WESTFORD—After more than 40 years at Pediatrics West, Andreas Athanasiou, MD, found himself facing a familiar situation: A child afraid of being at the doctor’s office.
“Dr. A,” as he is known around Westford, started by reassuring the crying 3-year-old. It didn’t work.
Then, he tried what he calls “Dr. Seuss” humor. “Excuse me for a few minutes, I have to take my pizza for a walk,” Dr. Athanasiou told the girl.
The child stopped crying and looked at him, confused. She told him that pizzas don’t walk. Dr. Athanasiou, gently explained, that, of course, his pizza can’t walk, it just tumbles along — that’s why he needed to go help it.
That bit of lightness did the trick.
When Dr. Athanasiou returned, the little girl let him check the health of her shoes. Then, she allowed him to examine her knees, elbows and chest. She didn’t cry.
“I walked out of the room and patted myself on the back and said, ‘You did well. You can retire,’” Dr. Athanasiou recalled.
A Bench Dedication
In December 2024, Dr. Athanasiou officially retired from Pediatrics West, the practice he co-founded with David Watson, MD, who is also now retired.
He shared the story about his young patient with a group of Pediatrics West physicians, nurses, staff and representatives of the Town of Westford’s Monuments Committee that had gathered for the dedication of a bench with a plaque in his honor at Jack Walsh Field on Saturday, Nov. 8.
The bench, fittingly, is located right next to a playground where kids are having fun.
“He’s just so easy with patients and families, very reassuring to the families,” said Russell Coleman, MD, a pediatrician and Pediatrics West partner, who has been with the practice for 25 years. “He’s kind of the glue that held the practice together.”
The practice has grown to three pediatric primary care offices in Westford, Groton and Fitchburg and Allergy West is also part of the practice. Today, Pediatrics West has about 30 medical providers, including physicians and nurse practitioners.
(In the photo at the top of this article, (left to right) Kerin Joyce, chief operating officer at Pediatrics West, and Andreas Athanasiou, MD, at the bench dedication).
Kerin Joyce, chief operating officer at Pediatrics West, said Dr. Athanasiou also trained staff, giving them space to ask questions.
“Three generations of patients is a strong testament for what somebody provides to the community,” Joyce said.
Starting Pediatrics West
Dr. Athanasiou, was born in Greece, where he received his medical degree in 1970. Then, he moved to the U.S., trained in pediatrics in New York and came to Boston for advanced pediatric oncology training at the New England Medical Center. He spent seven years in pediatric oncology at Tufts University.
At that time, pediatric oncology was in its early stages and the survival rate for children with cancer was about 50% to 60%, he said. “There was a lot of pain and suffering… a lot of pediatric death,” Dr. Athanasiou explained, adding it was weighing on him.
He was thinking about shifting his career.
In 1981, he lived in Cambridge, Mass., with his wife, Mary Riehm, a mathematician.
“I took a drive out into the country and said, ‘This is a good area to raise a family,’” Dr. Athanasiou remembered. He recalls Westford was a small town with about 10,000 residents and “practically no commercial activity.” He said there was no pediatric practice in town.
Dr. Athanasiou and his co-partner, Dr. Watson, started Pediatrics West across from the Cornerstone development where Market Basket is located on Littleton Road. They would help bring more medical care to the community. He also became a U.S. citizen.
In 1994, Dr. Athanasiou and Dr. Watson met with Emerson Hospital officials and told them that Westford was becoming an “energetic town,” proposing that constructing a medical center in Westford made sense. Their talks were successful.
On the site of the old Westford Flea Market on Littletown Road, Emerson Hospital built a medical building that today houses doctors’ offices, physical therapy, labs for bloodwork and mammogram services.
Pediatrics West was the building’s first tenant and the private, independent practice is still there, Dr. Athanasiou said.
Pediatric Medical Advances Over a Lifetime
Dr. Athanasiou noted three dramatic advances in pediatric medicine over his career: new childhood immunizations save lives, hydrating children when they have diarrhea keeps them out of the hospital as does using newer asthma medications.
Years ago, Dr. Athanasiou started his work days at Emerson Hospital, checking in on the between five and 10 of his patients hospitalized at any one time for various illnesses.
Common causes of hospitalization for children then were from the Haemophilus influenzae Type B virus (Hib), pneumococcal pneumonia and dehydration from illnesses that caused diarrhea, the result of older medical advice not to drink with diarrhea, Dr. Athanasiou explained.
Before the Hib vaccine was available, each year in the U.S. about 20,000 children under age 5 would get severe Hib disease and nearly 1,000 of those children died, according to mass.gov.
Since 1988 when the Hib vaccine was introduced, Hib disease in infants and young children has decreased by 99%, according to mass.gov.
Dr. Athanasiou said some of his patients, “little babies,” died in their sleep from Hib before the vaccine. Other times, Dr. Athanasiou would jump into an ambulance to take kids sick with Hib to the hospital when they came to his office, recalled a Pediatrics West nurse practitioner.
Other vaccines that have improved children’s health include vaccines for pneumococcal pneumonia, chicken pox, HPV and rotavirus.
He also noted in his speech that fewer kids are dying from cancer in the U.S. Today, about 80% to 90% of children with cancer survive, he said.
Dr. Athanasiou said that success is the result of the country’s investment in basic scientific research — touching lightly on recent federal cuts to scientific research.
As older challenges fade, new ones have developed. Important areas of focus for pediatricians today are: mental health, growth and development related to learning and lifestyle choices, which includes nutrition and exercise, Dr. Athanasiou said.
Indications of obesity can begin around age 7, so pediatricians are working with parents on this health issue, he said. Health and development and gender decisions are also being discussed in pediatrician offices, he added.
When he shops in Westford, Dr. Athanasiou said he loves to run into his former patients and families. He delights in hearing where they are living and about their careers.
As he retires, Dr. A’s staff at Pediatrics West says he leaves a legacy of caring and the expertise he instilled in the staff he guided for so many years.
He said he sorely misses his patients. “I love little kids,” Dr. Athanasiou said. “They’re little puzzles. Every one of them is a little puzzle. And you have to solve it. It was my stated effort to make them trust me. It was very fulfilling.”
